Author: Pam Goode

Sometimes

/ Pam Goode / 4 Comments

Sometimes I need to feel life touch me hard
before I can think clear.
Even when what’s inside is cool and clean and library quiet,
and the outside hangs heavy
with heat and
sticky wetness.

The outside rubs me naked
with life
until I open wide.

An arrogant mosquito kiss.
The embrace of a web.
Sudden rain alarms and illuminates me
like a Zen master’s swat
on the crown.

Aaahhh!
The fullness of what is real —

Easier to catch, and
harder to deny …
than when you’re cool
and powdered.

@PamGoodeWrites/Sophie’s Wild Hair

It’s Hot. You’ve probably noticed.

/ Pam Goode / 1 Comment

Yeah …
Hotter than hot.
Steaming hot.
Sweltering hot.
Blisteringly hot.
Hot as Hell hot.
Or maybe hotter than hell.
Then again, is there anything hotter than hell?
I don’t think so.

All my friends are vacationing. Which is, I can’t lie — obviously the best way to spend a blisteringly hot summer. I keep seeing pictures of girls gadding about and spending their summers with blissful delight all over the globe.

Why am I at home? Seriously? Shouldn’t I grab my husband and take him to Tanzania to frolic on the Serengeti? Or Fes? (I’ve been, and Fes is AMAZING! And while we’re at it, Hey! Paris! Okay, I’m totally feeling it now, so let’s not wait. Do you know that Paris has opened the Seine for the first time in a CENTURY???? I’m ready. In fact I’m more than ready and heading out. Gotta See It / Gotta Swim It. Life is Short …. Get Going.

Rock and a Hard Place, You Say?

/ Pam Goode / 6 Comments

Have you ever felt like you’re going nowhere? Doing the things you’ve always done and knowing that not a single one of them is getting you anywhere? I’ve pretty much done this run before — or even a gazillion times.

So yes, I know that feeling too well … but that’s not what I’m here for. What I’m here for is change. And though it isn’t easy, we all need it now and then. In fact I think the older we get, the more important it is.

So tell me, how do you jump into change, and how does it affect you? Scary? Delicious? Much easier than expected? Shoot me now? I think the decision is the hard part, and the jumping is the easy part. And I have ZERO doubt that most of us become so very much happier after the jumping. I know I have.

What’s changed me the most? Without a doubt, travel. Getting out there and seeing, learning, sharing, throwing off your “usual” and jumping into everything that moves you. And you know why?

Because being stuck between two huge rocks is never the answer.

@pamgoodewrites/sophieswildhair
Image taken by Pam Goode, in Ireland.

Easy? What’s Easy?

/ Pam Goode / 5 Comments

Well, we all know the answer to that. Lately it’s been harder and, to be honest, I really don’t understand. Sure, we get old and people change for one reason or another, but overall I just don’t get it. Maybe I never will. And honestly, I’m not okay with that.

And in truth, I really don’t want to be okay with it. I want to be wildly engaged in life. I want to do things, see thing, love life and relish every minute. Is that so hard? I really, really, don’t think that’s too hard for any of us.

It comes along with all those things we’ve always wanted to do with our lives — DO THEM.

It comes along with good days and bad — make it work for now and then make it better.

It comes with love. Real love — the smile you see on the face of everyone you pass.

I can do that.

I want to chat with my girlfriends weekly and make fabulous plans that may or may not come true, and that’s still okay.

I want to try everything, and I’m okay even if I don’t like it after all.

I want to be able to say what I mean — and have someone understand. And care.

I’m worth that much.

We’re ALL worth that much.

@pamgoodewrites.com/sophieswildhair

Today, I woke up with nothing to do. And I mean NOTHING.

/ Pam Goode / 2 Comments

UM … NOTHING??? This has never happened to me before.

After looking around the house for awhile (still nothing), I spent some time finishing the few tiny pieces leftover from my last project … and then I looked around the room again. I tried moving some furniture here and there. Eh. I cleaned up those leftover tiny pieces, and then I wondered if I should start on the next piece, but I wasn’t really ready for that. And then I finally decided to go to the plant store and ogle some plants.

Ogling is pretty much always a good way to spend time, don’t you think? I managed to buy a few and hope they live. “Hope” is the key word here. In truth, I’ve never been good at keeping plants alive. Ever. Any kind of plant — even the ones that say “foolproof.” And I can’t help wondering … why not???? Seriously, why not? I know how to do pretty much everything involved, and it isn’t that hard. And yet . . .

On second thought, I noticed that the girl who checked me out did remove the soil from the vase (dumped it, actually) and added all fresh soil, which seemed a novel and really good idea. Nonetheless I’m hopeful, even if not particularly optimistic on the turnout.

Now, my husband is a different egg. He can grow anything, and by anything, I mean everything. I don’t have that gene and I’ll likely never get better at trying, and that’s okay. It’s also why he takes care of the garden — well, … and the food, and the dusting, and the miscellanea, but that’s okay too, because I’m really, really good at other things: great ideas, lots of girlfriends, playing with babies, and saying “let’s go out to dinner!” All necessities, I promise.

And of course it doesn’t really matter how we spend time. Somehow, we all pretty much find the right path.

@PamGoodeWrites

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

/ Pam Goode / 3 Comments

When they say life is short, they mean it.

It doesn’t matter if you’re 13 or 98, It doesn’t matter if you’ve visited every single spot on the globe. It doesn’t matter how wealthy you are. It doesn’t matter if you’ve been bad or good. It doesn’t even matter if you really, REALLY want to live forever. The clock keeps ticking and you can’t stop it.

What we CAN do, is live and love.

And when I say that, I mean LOVE with all your heart. Love the good days and the bad days, but mostly, every single &%@$& day. Love for both the young and the old. Love for what you’ve lost and for what you’ve gained. Love for what you believe, and yes, love even for those you don’t believe.

So love MORE, dance MORE, hug MORE, talk MORE, share MORE, protest MORE, think MORE, imagine MORE, create MORE, help MORE, and jump delightfully into every possible moment you have.

And if you need to, change — and change NOW. You’ll be glad. So glad. I promise.

@pamgoodewrites

Tedium, A Primer

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Tangles and knots and confusion, scraping dried spaghetti from between the tines of my grandmother’s sterling, reading directions, coaxing nits from a toddler’s locks, de-weaving your dreads for tomorrow’s interview at Bank of America, proofreading the company’s “Five Hundred Uses of the Industrial Bolt” newsletter, scrubbing the toilet, bad sex. We’ve all been there; NO ONE needs an example of “tedium” — otherwise known as “bored and weary of it all.”

And why? Plenty of us have pretty much anything we need, and plenty more have even more. We were born in a golden age and many are still doing well. Seriously, can’t we all just be grateful and sharing? How hard is that?

And yet we hate It. We Hate It Intentionally. We Hate It until someone else does it for us. We Hate It almost enough to toss the silver. We chop the hair; we stray; we seek excitement and a Higher Level of Existence — that one just around the corner that allows us to afford maids and gardeners and cooks and a steady revue of hilarious houseguests, studly romancers, and adoring bimbettes. That one where we can . . . lie in a Barcalounger and . . . doze while the television blares. Ah yes, we’ve arrived — bored and weary of it all.

Welcome.

Ireland, Here We Come!

/ Pam Goode / 8 Comments

I fly to Ireland on Monday.

Wait … Let me readjust that note … I FLY TO IRELAND ON MONDAY!!!

It’s not my first trip there, and in fact I’m on my TENTH visit now … because I just can’t get enough. And guess what? I’m 100% as excited as I was on the first trip.

As you can tell, Ireland will always have my heart.

And — oh yeah — we’re staying in a castle. A real-life, bells and whistles Castle. Seriously. And meals are included.

And it’s not just a Castle — aside from the monumental reality there — but a castle and quite a few other perks, and yes, I’m all atwitter and with good reason. Add in 200 acres of woodlands, and ohhh how that makes me swoon. Oh, and they feed us — and not just “food”, but a range of locally sourced delicacies like Spanish tapas, traditional Irish meals, Italian fire-cooked pizza, and vegetarian options. I won’t go hungry.

So back to those perks — We’ll have a class on Falconry (which would NEVER have occurred to me on my own), a Micro Mosaic Workshop with the fabulous and renowned Irish artist Olive Stack, a Group Collaboration on a Land-Art piece, traditional Irish music and story-telling, PLUS off-site excursions focusing on day-trips with Irish historian Ger Greaney to explore ancient Celtic sites, a stone circle, holy well, faery ring, and historic ruins; a full day in Listowel for exploring, shopping and exploring; and a day in beautiful Dingle to see artisan studios, galleries, ancient buildings, the Blasket Center, which preserves and honors the memories of the unique community that lived on the very remote Blasket Islands until their evacuation in 1953, and (of course) a bit of shopping.

FYI, we have TWO Spaces Available for Ireland (women only). We have a room with two twin beds that can be made into a King with a bathroom en suite, and two queen rooms with a hall bathroom. Our flights leave Monday, May 9 and return Sunday, May 16. Flights are not included. Let us know if you’d like details, and SEE YOU SOON!!!

Crumbs

/ Pam Goode / 6 Comments

Some say the purest death
is to be ravaged alive
by beasts —
a final communion with creation
and instinct.
I could give myself to the lions
as red men gave their flesh
with joy to birds of prey, a feast
laid high on offering altars of pine,
their bodies rising
bite by bite to fill
the mouth and longing arms
of god.
And if I should die on African soil
at the pawing of tigers or men,
I pray the ants will piggyback my
sun-pressed crumbs across each undulation
of the ancient and bare breasted earth
and leave me soul to soil,
to nurse the hungry wild
and mingle with the stars.

© Pam Goode, 1995
Adapted, 2025

NOTE: Artist, Writer, Wanderer, Introvert, Philosophical Rambler, Teacher, Worldwide Art Retreat Leader at wildhairadventures.com with LauraMcRaeHitchcock.com and pamgoodewrites.com

Five Things I’ve Learned About Life

/ Pam Goode / 3 Comments

1. We all start out wholly and completely incompetent, and then we start to grow in endless ways. We learn who we are are and who we want to be. This process will change again and again, and that’s a good thing. Be open. Stay open. Change is our calling.

2. Learn to love this process. It’s what we’re here for.

3. Eat when you’re hungry. Sleep when you’re tired.

4. What we see in life is impacted heavily by where we’re standing. Get out of your own way and look past yourself. There’s a lot of magic in the world once you learn to see beyond your own nose.

5. Everyone likes a little nuzzling. Don’t close yourself up.